Red Phoenix

As drJack wrote, in your case only returning to Thailand for a few months, you could consider simply entering Thailand Visa Exempt (without A visa). Doing so will provide you with a 30-day Permission to stay stamped in your passport by border-immigration on entry. Then you could apply for a 30-day extension of stay at any Thai Imm Office (costs 1.900,- THB) which will be provided on the spot and added to your Permission to stay expiry date. And then at the end of those 60 days, you - being married to a Thai national - you can apply for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife. Doing so you will have almost 4 months of stay, without having to apply for a Visa. Note that in order to be allowed boarding your flight to Thailand the airline will want you to show an outbound flight to an international destination from Thailand on a date PRIOR to the expiry of the 30-day Permission to stay you will receive when entering Thailand VisaExempt. You can either buy the cheapest possible 'throw-away' ticket (e.g. one way Bangkok to HoChiMin city, for less than 1500 THB). Or use onwardticket.com or similar service, to buy a fully legit reservation, cost something like 12 to 15 US $ but which is automatically cancelled 48 or 72 hours after having bought it (immediate delivery by e-mail when paying by credit-card). So you need to buy such reservation either evening before or morning of your departure flight to Thailand.

Yes, that's correct. If he applied for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at Trang Imm Office, his first 1-year extension of stay application also has to be done at that same Office. If he already has a 1-year extension of stay application issued by Trang Imm Office, he would have to relocate to a Chiang Mai province if he wants to receive a Res. Cert. from the CM Imm Office. This has to be done by notifying the CM Imm Office via a TM-30 of him having relocated to an address in their province. Without such approved TM-30 by the CM Imm Office, the OP would not be provided by any service from CM Imm Office.

Strange as it may sound it is of little relevance 'where you live'. The important thing is where you have your 'address for Immigration purposes'. And that's the Imm Office of the province that provided you with your current Non Imm O Visa and/or current 1-year extension of the Permission to stay from that Visa. You wrote "I was issued a non-O retirement through Trang immigration". That being the case, you will NOT be provided with any Imm service from another office. So if you want to get hold of a Residence Certificate issued by Chiang-Mai Imm Office, you would have to relocate to an address in Chiang-Mai province, and then issue a TM-30 notifying Chiang-Mai Imm Office that this is now your address in Thailand. Only when that TM-30 has been accepted by the CM Imm Office, will you then be able to do your 1-year extensions and 90-day reports or apply for a Res. Cert, Re-Entry Permit, etc at the CM Imm Office.

Because at Suvarnabhumi Airport, I did NOT need to give them a pass-photo. I made use of the 200,- THB Re-Entry Permit Service desk, which only needs your passport and then prepares everything for you (the photo being taken by their webcam) and you then hand that prepared application to the Immigration office 10 meter to the right. But I recommend taking 2 passphotos with you, in case the webcam is out of order (or when they suddenly change rules, and a pass-photo becomes a necessity again).

UK - The ONS (Office for National Statistics) recently published an update on deaths by vaccination status in England. Here the link to the report > https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19byvaccinationstatusengland/latest And here the link that enables to download the dataset on which that report is based: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/deathsbyvaccinationstatusengland When looking at the last 12 months of the data (period between 1st June 2022 and 31st May 2023) it turns out that the vaccinated population accounted for 95% of COVID-19 deaths, and 94% of those deaths were among either the triple or quadruple vaccinated population. The figures for the covid-19 deaths during that period as provided in the data-set are - 5% of covid-19 deaths for the unvaccinated, - 6% of covid-19 deaths for those that received 1 or 2 shots, and - 89% of covid-19 deaths for those that did receive 3 or more shots. Obviously these percentages have to be compared with the actual covid-19 uptake figures to make any meaningful conclusions. And the actual UK Covid-19 vaccine uptake figures are as follows: - 9.3% of UK citizens are unvaccinated, - 15.1% of UK citizens did receive 1 or 2 shots, and - 75.6% of UK citizens did receive 3 or more shots. Let those figures sink in... The conclusion therefore is that the UK population that got - 1 or more covid-jabs (90,7 % of the population), account for 95% of the covid-19 deaths, but the real shocker is that those that got - 3 or 4 covid-jabs (75.6% of the population) make up for 89% of the covid-19 deaths. And the figures for the 4-time jabbed are even worse, as the large majority of covid-19 deaths are in that cohort.. Weren't those jabs meant to PROTECT you from getting covid-19 (let alone from dying from it)? Also note that the Summary of the ONS-report commenting on the figures, does not even mention these shilling figures. In fact that Summary reads as a Good News Show for the vaccinated.

Almost 3 weeks ago already when opening the website of the Thai Embassy in Brussels < https://www.thaiembassy.be/ >, after a few moments a message appeared that your browser needs updating. And when doing so you had to download a file which contains a TROJAN virus. It seems they are aware of the problem as the site is currently still not accessible and features a message that it is undergoing "temporary website maintenance". Thais and IT > a deadly combination!

Jeff CHILDERS commenting on the current booster uptake in his daily C&C Newsletter: Only 2% of Americans have taken the new-and-improved covid booster shots. Pfizer’s stock tanked on the news, briefly dropping below pre-pandemic prices. Last year, 18% of eligible Americans took the boosters (for some reason). This year, the public health agencies all ran the same positive propaganda, and the enthusiasm is even lower. Two percent is nothing. It’s probably down to just the public health crowd and medical fetishists now... https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/darwin-awards-sunday-october-16-2023

Last Friday Dr Peter Hotez received the 2023 Anthony Fauci Courage in Leadership Award. Clownworld! And some of the comments on that tweet are pure gold...

That would normally only work for those having entered Thailand VisaExempt or on a TouristVisa, wanting to extend their stay by applying for a 30-day extension of stay, which can be done at any Imm Office. When applying for a Non Imm O Visa or 1-year extension of such, staying in a Hotel after having just arrived or moved from your previous address, would only work at some Imm Offices (e.g. CW) if the Hotel provided you also with a statement that you are staying there only temporary until you have found a fitting place for permanent residence.

The 90-day report is nothing more than a confirmation from your part that you are STill residing at your 'official address for immigration purposes' for which you notified the local Imm Office of that province where you have your address. That natification is done by issuing a TM-30 (with the accompagning evidence, e.g. a rental contract, a house-book and the signed front/back copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner/landlord of the premises).

Yep, the ChatGTP program has severe limitations. Often when you keep on asking, it walks back earlier-made 'hard' statements when being queried on them.

The situation in US re covid-vaccine uptake, seems to be similar as in Germany (and many other countries). https://www.eugyppius.com/p/journalists-for-die-zeit-realise Journalists for Die Zeit - Germany’s largest newsweekly - realise nobody cares about the Covid jabs anymore, then pen 2500-word wall of text angsting about German "vaccine exhaustion" and wondering how things can have come to this... Illustrative anecdote from the article: Dr. Lassen, we read, is a general practitioner in Leck, a small town in Nordfriesland. The poor man has been offering Covid vaccines for two weeks, but so far he’s only been able to jab 130 people. At the height of the mass vaccination campaign, he was jabbing at least that many every day. That’s how bad things have gotten for poor Dr. Lassen.

Lol - ChatGTP putting you on the wrong foot with their answer, although the program sensibly recommends to "contact the embassy or consulate beforehand to inquire about specific requirements and procedures for applying for a visa."

I seem to recall from another post that it was possible, but in order to make sure I just asked ChatGPT (featured on AseanNow - 7th tab in the top ribbon on the AN Homepage) > Can a US citizen apply for a Visa to visit Thailand at the Thai embassy in Japan? And the program provided the following answer: > Yes, a US citizen can apply for a visa to visit Thailand at the Thai embassy or consulate in Japan. As long as you are in Japan and meet the requirements for a Thai visa, you can submit your application at the nearest Thai embassy or consulate. It is always recommended to contact the embassy or consulate beforehand to inquire about specific requirements and procedures for applying for a visa. = = = But of course, applying for the eVisa in his home-country would be far easier and the flight-itinerary would most probably not pose a problem (especially if he provided both reservations covering the full itinerary US - Japan - Thailand).

Some interesting facts in that Reuters press-release: #1 - The updated shots from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) or Moderna (MRNA.O) are single-target vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which was dominant in the U.S. for much of this year but has since been overtaken by other variants as the virus evolves. #2 - ... by Sept. 21, around 4.4 million Americans had rolled up their sleeves for one of updated or new shots. That's 1.3% of the US population. #3 - Around 56.5 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, received last year's version of the vaccines.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/about-4-mln-americans-got-their-updated-covid-vaccines-sept-2023-10-04/ Oct 4 (Reuters) - Around 4 million Americans received the updated COVID-19 shots in September, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), even as some people have found it difficult to book vaccination appointments or find the vaccines at no cost. "The Biden-Harris Administration, through HHS, has been working directly with manufacturers and distributors to ensure that the vaccines are getting to pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and other vaccination sites, including long-term care facilities as quickly as possible," a spokesperson for the department said in an emailed statement. The updated shots from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) or Moderna (MRNA.O) are single-target vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant of the coronavirus, which was dominant in the U.S. for much of this year but has since been overtaken by other variants as the virus evolves. Another updated COVID shot, made by Novavax (NVAX.O), was authorized on Tuesday but is not yet available. Rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna shots began in earnest after the U.S. Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended them on Sept. 12. The rollout of last year's updated shots targeting two virus variants started about 10 days earlier, and by Sept. 21, around 4.4 million Americans had rolled up their sleeves for one of them. U.S. public health officials have expressed hope that Americans will welcome the new vaccines as they would an annual flu shot. But demand for COVID vaccines has dropped sharply since 2021, when they first became available. Around 56.5 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, received last year's version of the vaccines.

When applying for the eVisa that needs to be done from your home-country. So in your case it would be recommended that you provide both flight reservations (the one from USA to Japan, as well as the later flight from Japan to Thailand) when applying for the eVisa. Alternatively you could when in Japan apply in person at the Thai Embassy/Consulate for the Visa. But that would probably require 2 visits (one for the application and one to pick up the Visa after approval - and if the Thai Embassy in Japan keeps your passport during the application that would be rather inconvenient).

According to Thai law it is the 'housemaster' (which can be the owner, landlord or resident) that has to notify the local Immigration Office that a foreigner is staying at the premises. The form to be used for such notification is the TM-30, and it needs to be done (either on-line or in person) within 24 hours of arrival of the foreigner at the premises. Hotels/guesthouses can simply do such notification on-line for foreigners staying there, and those foreigners that are in Thailand on a Tourist Visa (or entered Visa Exempt) and want to apply for a 30-day extension of stay, can ask the Hotel/guesthouse for a copy of that TM-30 notification as the local Imm Office will not provide any service without 'proof of address'. When staying in a rented/leased place or in the house of your wife/girlfriend, and wanting to stay longer-term in Thailand, the local Imm Office needs additional evidence that you are actually residing there. And such evidence can consist of a rental agreement (in case of renting/leasing) or the Housebook of the place you are staying. And in both cases Immigration also requires a signed front/back copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner/landlord of those premises. Also most Imm Offices are somewhat lenient and do not insist on having this done within 24 hours as the law prescribes, but it is recommended to do it within the first 1-2 weeks of you having moved to the place where you will be residing long-term. NOTE that you will come across many posts of long-term residents in Thailand, claiming that 'they never did a TM-30'. But what happened is that at their first encounter with Immigration that they (or their landlord/wife) provided the required evidence (i.e. rental agreement or housebook, together with copy of Thai ID-card) and that their local Imm Office filled in the TM-30 form for them without them being aware. The fact alone that they were able to get services from that office is already proof that they have met the TM-30 notification requirement.

Looks pretty complete to me, and you should have no problem when applying at CW for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, with all the above. Success!

For this first 6-months trip to Thailand, and suggested already by previous posters, an METV (MultipleEntry Tourist Visa) would be your best option, with the additional advantage that you can extend your visit to max 9 months if you desire to do so. For your next annual long trip to Thailand another METV (allowing you to reside 6-9 months in the country) would also be possible. But after that you might experience some difficulties as border-immigration based on that history of two 6-months (or longer) stays in Thailand during a 2-year period, could result in them not considering you a 'genuine tourist' and denying you entry. Of course that's +2 years in the future, so your plans might change, and if you still want to make such annual trips, there are other options for long-term stay in Thailand. So the advice to apply for an METV for this first trip to Thailand is for sure still your best option.

Actually you would need to provide the evidence of meeting the financial requirements already in 2-3 months during the last month of the 90-day Non Imm O Visa Permission to stay, when you have to apply for your first 1-year extension of stay. Obviously you would only have to provide evidence of having met the requirements for the 2 months preceding your application, consisting of #1 - a bank-account statement printed on letterhead-paper of your Bank, stating that you are the sole owner of that personal bank-account, and also providing the balance (+800K) on the moment of issuance, of that statement, which has to be on the date of application for your 1-year extension of stay application; #2 - your Bank Pass-book updated on the day of application - preferably with a small transaction done on that day - and copies of the transactions made during the 2 months preceding the day of application and showing that you never slipped under +800K during that period. > Depending on your Imm Office they might also require you to provide a transactions-overview by your Bank over those 2 months (which basically provides the exact same information as your Bank Pass-book). However, such transactions-overview is not (yet) required at CW.

The codes besides the transfers on your Bank-account Passbook (or the codes on the funds-transfers overview that your Bank can provide you - see my previous post) will indicate whether the transfer was 'domestic' or 'originating from abroad'. Note that when you used WISE to do the transfer(s), the code will turn up as 'domestic' and you would need to bring also the WISE transaction statement which will show that the transfer(s) originated from abroad. That WISE transaction statement is accepted by most Imm Offices as evidence that the funds indeed originated from abroad.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2052297523000914 Title of the study > Efficacy and safety of in-hospital treatment of Covid-19 infection with low-dose hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in hospitalized patients: A retrospective controlled cohort study The study was conducted to compare the 28-day mortality rate in 352 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin (HCQ-group) in a hospital with a contemporary control group of 3533 patients receiving standard of care from the Belgian Collaborative Group on COVID-19 Hospital Surveillance The conclusion of this recently published retrospective analysis reads: ‘It is very plausible that the observed survival benefit reflects a true treatment effect.’ In other words, the treatment was effective.

You mentioned low vaccination rate, and that's indeed a definite Plus, as it clearly indicates that the country's government has not been mandating/coercing its citizens into forfeiting their right for bodily autonomy.

At my Sisaket Imm Office evidence of having met the financial requirements for the 1-year extension application based on a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, consist of providing 3 documents: #1 - A bank-account statement issued on the date of application for the 1-year extension application, printed on Bank-letterhead paper, and stating that the account is on your personal name only and providing the updated balance of that account on the day of issuance (which must be above +800.000 THB); #2 - A recent document issued by the bank, listing all transactions made on that account over the last 12 months, showing that during those 12 months you never slipped under the 800K and 400K tressholds. Note: Some bank-branches (e.g. Bangkok Bank) only have access to the last 6 months of the transactions you made during the preceding period, and hence need to order the 12-month bank-transactions document at Headquarters, which can take up to 5 working days before it is available at the local branche. So you need to 'order' that 12-month statement 1 week in advance to ensure that it is available for pick-up at date of application for your 1-year extension. As Immigration is aware of that limitation they do not require that that document was issued by the Bank on the date of application for your 1-year extension. Also, if you have a Fixed Deposit Account with Kasikorn Bank, the small transaction you need to make on date of application for your 1-year extension, will not show yet on the 12-month overview that the Bank will create on date of application. > And hence Immigration also requires that you bring with you: #3 - Your bank-account passbook featuring the small transaction you made on date of application. Note: Some Imm Offices instead of #2 (the 12-month bank-transactions document) still only require copies of all pages in your Bank-account passbook covering the last 12 months. But if your Bank consolidated the transactions when you did not regularly update your Bank-account passbook, Immigration will not be able to check whether you did not slip under the required tressholds during such 'consolidation period' and hence several Imm Offices (like mine) now require the 12-month bank-transactions document.